Water Contaminants Lab

Due to ever-growing demands in textiles, synthetic organic dyes are widely used for dyeing textile fibers such as cotton and polyester. Approximately 10,000 different dyes and pigments are used for industries and over 7 × 105 tons of these dyes are annually produced worldwide. Dyes and pigments represent one of the problematic groups; they are emitted into wastewaters from various industrial branches, mainly from the dye manufacturing and textile finishing and also from food colouring, cosmetics, paper and carpet industries. Synthetic dyes have complex aromatic structures which provide them physico-chemical, thermal and optical stability. Dyes in effluents, if not removed, cause disturbance to the ecological systems of the receiving waters. These materials also pose certain health hazards and environmental pollution.

This is largely because they are relatively cheap and simple to manufacture. Furthermore, they produce vibrant shades of color and are reasonably soluble in water (Liu, Wan, Nan, n.d.). However, these dyes are now manufactured at such a large scale that they bring up numerous health and environmental concerns. In recent years azo dyes, especially Allura Red AC, have been connected to child hyperactivity, which also raises concerns over other potentially toxic effects they can have on living organisms (“FDA Probes Link”, 2011). This is only amplified by the fact that azo dyes such as Allura Red AC and Azo Grenadine are also especially recalcitrant to conventional methods of wastewater treatment. Research on this topic led me to an article on electrochemical advanced oxidation processes and their potential as a solution to mineralizing especially recalcitrant compounds in the environment, "Decontamination of Wastewaters Containing Synthetic Organic Dyes by Electrochemical Methods: A Review." This led me to pursue the investigation in my extended essay on the topic of electrochemical advanced oxidation processes and the effect they have on azo dyes such as Allura Red AC and Azo Grenadine. In order to evaluate the effect of this process, I made the decision to do a comparison of the two dyes. This led me to the question, “How does the effect of electrochemical advanced oxidation processes vary between Allura Red AC and Azo

Please briefly describe the different types of water pollution mentioned throughout the "Poisoned Waters" video. Fertilizers, Nitrogen and Phosphorous caused algae which poisoned the waters. It caused a dead zone. The farmers who own chickens was allowing the manure to pollute the water. The humans race is all responsible as we pollute our water by throwing garbage into it. Soap, household cleaning agents, toothpaste, and other plastic, lubricant and fuels are all poisoning our water.

Figure 2: Dye percents versus absorbance in a control, 10%, 20%, and 30% azide solutions.

The dyes in the laboratory experiment are made of numerous colors, mainly red and blue, the spectra from each of the dyes corresponded to the wavelengths obtained from each of dye i.e. 620 nm for red and 450 nm for blue.

What effect did each of the contaminants have on the water in the experiment? Which contaminant seemed to have the most potent effect on the water?

In the diffusion experiment, we sought to understand how diffusion works across a plasma membrane by simulating a caterpillar consuming plants. My hypothesis was: If we test the diffusion using Lugol's solution, we will find the dialysis tube to be semipermeable. We used three beakers: one small beaker, and two larger beakers, as well as dialysis tubes, clamps, two pipettes, starch, Lugol, test strips (to test the glucose level), and amylase.

Microbiological contamination of water has been a long term concern to the public. (1) The primary sources of bacteria in water include both human and animal wastes. These sources of bacterial contamination consist of runoffs from feedlots, dog runs, pastures, and other areas where the wastes are deposited. Another way bacteria can enter a water supply is through infiltration by flood waters. (This happened recently down at the Ferny Grove Creek.)

Groundwater contamination has many far reaching environmental, political, societal and economic effects. Groundwater contamination, while obviously potentially detrimental to human wellbeing, can have a large impact on localities in any region of the world. When toxic agents are introduced into a groundwater system it puts all local wildlife in immediate danger. This includes the health of both flora and fauna near or in the flow from the source of contamination. Human health can also be impacted by this type of contamination. Toxic agents, in my example specifically tetrachloroethene (PCE), have many harmful effects on human health including affecting the central nervous system, causing cancers and causing pulmonary edema (Tetrachloroethylene Toxicity, 2017).

This lab experiment was to examine the effects of water contamination. This experiment was based on the quality of water in a town named Fruitvale in which the water had been infected due to rubbish and litter. Our task was to conduct an experiment using the different water samples and universal indicator. The universal indicator displays the ppb(contamination level) level in the water. In total there were 40 well that could be possibly be tested. I tested 23 wells in all. My final hypothesis is: if I tested wells 12, 9, 6, 16, 15 then the ppb level would be higher because these wells are near the old chemical company, the farm that uses pesticides and the trash land.

The hypothesis for the experiment was if the contaminated water is poured through a filter then the clarity will be more clear and the pH of the water will be closer to 7. The contaminated waters’ pH before going through the filter was 8.33 and after going through the filter became 7.42, due to this pH lowering our hypothesis was right about the pH being closer to 7. The contaminated waters’ clarity was 71.1% before being filtered and after going through the filter lowered to 44.1%, making it lower then it started. These numbers are not great and drinking this water is not recommended. The hypothesis was correct, however the numbers are not the best and the filter could be improved to make the numbers better. In this experiment the filter

Water it is contaminated with chromium and arsenic, and here is where the biggest problem lies. The fact that companies who carry out these processes do not contain tanks where the water store and may reutilizer, generate that all these “Wastewater and solid waste from tanning operations often find their way into surface water, where toxins are carried downstream and contaminate water used for bathing, cooking, swimming, and irrigation” (37). Therefore the amount of people that are exposed to a high risk of contamination, and diseases it is considerably high.

Dyeing and finishing is the way to make my garment. Dyeing and finishing process, due to inefficient.dyeing, each year more than 200,000 tons of dye loss. However, the environmental legislation allows the industry to remove the pigment from the.dye-bearing wastewater before it is discharged into the water. Also,.the demand for textiles has also increased, the comparability of their products is rising, and the use of synthetic fibers is also rising too. Dyes are.working together to tackle the sewage one of the most important sources of the.severe current pollution problems. The

Wastewater is a broad term used to characterize the water with poor quality that have high quantity of pollutants and microorganisms.Water pollution is becoming a sever hazrd to survival of humanities. Industrial wastewater is greatly polluted that have very high amount of COD and inorganic nutrients. Untested dischager and insufficent treatment may direct to remarkable aquatic loss and consequent damage to the complete ecosystem.The textile industry is one of the rapidly developing industries and the number one polluter of clean water. It uses huge amount of water and generate high volumes of wastewater from various steps in the dyeing and finishing procedure. In excess to 80,000 tons of dyes utlize

The pollution that caused by dyes contains agents such as benzidine and toluidine (comes from aromatic amines), heavy metals, ammonia, alkaline salts, toxic solids and chlorine that can reduce concentration of dissolve oxygen in water (Needhidasan S. et al., 2013). Improper management of wastewater disposal cause serious water pollution. This case should not be underestimated, because river is one of the freshwater ecosystems that essential for human survival and provide the majority of people’s drinking water. Furthermore, river also is a habitat to more than 40 percent of the world’s fish species.